This invention is related to the fields of geocentric location devices and systems, and distributed geocentric location based systems and their application to cartography and, more particularly to utilizing geocentric location based systems to map out un-charted or modified topographies and utilizing the created mappings within a navigation system.
The earliest direct evidence of the creation of maps is a Babylonian clay tablet which shows the earth as a flat, circular disk. It is estimated that this tablet was created around 1000 B.C. Thus, we can safely say that for at least 3000 years, mankind has had a keen interest in not being lost. Today, cartography is so important that in the United States, we have a governmental agency that is dedicated to the subject—the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which, prior to 2004 was known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). The mission of the NGA is to provide timely, relevant, and accurate geospatial intelligence.
The good news for NGA, and the many commercial companies that are involved in the creation, publication and dissemination of mapping information is that we continuously are changing the face of planet Earth. As a result of these constant changes, we have the benefit of purchasing elaborate world or country specific atlases at greatly reduced prices—if we are willing to rely on last years version. For most of us, such an outdated atlas or map will pose absolutely no problems. However, there are industries that not only require up-to-date mapping information, but actually demand near real-time provision of current mapping information. An example of such an industry is the construction industry, as well as the various industries that operate in and around new construction sites.
A revolutionary technological advancement that has not yet been fully utilized and appreciated in the cartography industry, is location identification and tracking technology. The most commonly known system that has reached wide-spread deployment is the Global Positioning System or GPS. GPS technology includes multiple geostationary satellite systems that provide location and timing signals to earth bound GPS receivers. Such technology can greatly improve the ability for companies to keep track of their assets or mobile forces.
As described in the above-listed related patent application, prior to the advent of wireless communications, service companies that relied on the use of deployed work forces typically would distribute work orders at the beginning of a work day and then deploy their work forces. If information pertaining to entries in a particular person's work order changed, the company or dispatcher would not be able to alert the worker unless the worker called in during the day or, if the company was able to track the worker down by calling the various locations that the worker should be visiting in accordance with his or her work orders. With the widespread deployment of wireless communications including pagers, two-way radios and cellular technologies, the ability to keep track of and update the work orders for various workers was greatly enhanced.
The above-listed related patent application is directed towards exploiting the technology developments in location identification technology and wireless communications to help improve the efficiency of a deployed work force oriented business. In addition, it discloses a system to identify the location of a company's deployed assets and provide the deployed asset with work order information relevant to a job tied to the identified location or a particular piece of equipment at that location. Furthermore, the above-listed related patent application discloses an automated dispatcher capability that can track deployed forces, automatically adjust work orders to more efficiently service customers, collect and provide current status and information for various projects in a real-time manner, and provide status relevant information to field workers based on measurements and status information obtained from the field. However, operating within an unmapped area, such as a new construction territory, in which roads, addresses and other mapping information is not available can be problematic. In fact, in a new construction zone, the cartography can change on a daily, and even an hourly basis. Tracking deployed work forces in such an environment can prove to be exceedingly problematic. Thus, there is a need in the art for a solution to obtain current, near real-time mapping information within new construction areas. There is also a need in the art for a system that can exploit the current mapping information within an automatic dispatch scenario. There is also a need in the art to create mapping information that can be utilized to supplement mapping information within navigation systems, such as in-vehicle navigation systems.